Hostgator offers the best WordPress hosting compatibility

If you haven’t figured out how to install wordpress using Fantastico, I’m going to quickly get you up to date and then move on to explaining why a solid hosting service is crucial when installing WordPress blogs.

First off, you absolutely need a cPanel hosting package to have immediate access to things like Apache or MySQL (and Fantastico too). You dont need to know what to do with it, but you better have’em.

1. Fantastico

Make sure your WordPress host offers Fantastico De Luxe

This wonderful service allows you to install WordPress on any of the domains listed in your account (see addon domains for more) in less than a minute.

It will also keep track of all the domains that have WP installed and suggest updates when necessary. The other option?

You’d have to download the WP package, FTP it to your domain, and then go to wordpress.com to get a username/password. If you know what you’re doing, it’ll take you 20 minutes – if not, well, it can take a whole day.

2. MySQL databases

I’m adventuring myself in unchartered territory, but here’s my attempt to explain why this is important when using WordPress.

Everytime you install WP, they create a new database where your configurations are stored. This way, there’s something to save you in case of a crash or invasion (Hostgator saved me from one of those).

So mark MySQL in the list of things you DONT need to know what it does but you DO need to have on your hosting package.

Got the picture?

Tomorrow I’m going to attempt to explain why these two services are CRUCIAL when you’re trying to perform trivial things like loading a new theme or installing a plugin to your WP blog. (You wont EVER have to worry about FTP!)

But before we get there, you need the most reliable wordpress hosting service -

Sign up for Hostgator today and get your first month for $0.01 (coupon code: wordpress)

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1. Hostgator & Watermelons – How The Best Hosting Ever Was Born

Add multiple domains to the same Hostgator hosting account, free

This quick tutorial will show how to add multiple domains to the same Hostgator hosting account without paying any extra money. And it will only take 30 seconds.

Of course, we’re going to use the gator’s free Cpanel, a major life-saver when it comes to the “behind the scenes” of webhosting.

And here’s the kick – Hostgator will let you add as many domains as you want. Seriously – they offer unlimited addon domains (which is how they call these secondary domains on your account).

So, let’s get to the tutorial:

1. Log Into cPanel

It’s simple: just type in yourdomain.com/cpanel

2. Find the “Domains” Tab

Click on “Addon Domains”

This is how it looks like:

The domain tab on your cPanel account

3. Enter the new Domain info

You’ll fill the domain name WITHOUT http://

Then, you can either leave everything as is (recommended) or pick a simpler name to become the new FTP username and Root folder.

Like so:

Finish adding the domain - they'll be listed on your cPanel account

That’s it!

Now you’ve got a brand new domain that is using the same hosting account – you dont need to pay for another one.

And since Hostgator offer unlimited bandwidth, there’s no need to worry about crashes – you can have over 50K visits/day and everything will flow just peachy.

Just a quick note: whenever you need to upload something to that new domain, you ftp continues to be the same:

ftp.PRIMARYdomainname.com

All you need to change is the FTP username to whatever you chose during the addition process.

If you have any questions, or anything you’d like to learn, post them in the comments!

If not, go ahead and SIGN UP FOR HOSTGATOR FOR $0.01!

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1. Why You’ll Love Hostgator’s cPanel Interface